FALL CITY, Wash. — A judge has quashed accusations that anyone tampered with the evidence in a Fall City homicide case.
In a ruling filed Monday, Judge Veronica Galván says she found no misconduct by the defense for the 15-year-old who’s accused of murdering his family and blaming it on his sibling.
Last month, the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office alleged that the public defenders who are representing the boy had rummaged through the victims’ belongings during the unsupervised visit to the home.
In response, the defense accused the state of making up lies while having evidence that the claims were untrue, ‘irreparably damaging’ the teen’s right to a fair trial.
Judge Galván ruled that neither the defense nor King County Sheriff’s Office went outside of the parameters set for their allowed investigations of the home.
The judge also said this case should go to trial ‘as soon as possible.’
Background on the case
Court documents state that on Oct. 21, the teen boy called 911 just before 5 a.m. from a home in the Lake Alice neighborhood, out of breath, saying his younger brother had shot his whole family and then committed suicide. He said he was hiding in one of the bathrooms when he called for help.
The documents state he told 911 operators his younger brother “had been caught looking at pornography the night before and that he was about to get in a lot of trouble.”
While he was on the phone, his 11-year-old sister, who’d been shot in the neck, ran about a quarter mile down the road to a neighbor’s house, saying her brother had killed her whole family, according to the documents. Police say she told them she held her breath and played dead so her brother wouldn’t follow her to the neighbor’s house.
The girl later told detectives she believed her brother used their father’s handgun to kill the family. According to a probable cause statement, the girl told detectives the gun was stored in a lockbox and the 15-year-old was the only one who knew the combination.
Defense attorneys, however, claim the 15-year-old boy’s version of events is “forensically viable.”
What’s next?
A status hearing will be held on January 8, 2025.
A hearing to determine whether the boy will be tried as an adult is set for June 2025.
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